1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus that cleans/disinfects an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
An endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus configuration in which an endoscope duct is connected to an endoscope connection portion of an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus and a liquid is supplied from a liquid supply source into the endoscope duct via a liquid supply duct, a fluid feeding duct and the endoscope connection portion inside the endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus, thereby cleaning/disinfecting the inside of the endoscope duct is well known.
Also, a configuration in which in order to detect clogging of an endoscope duct, for example, a flow measurement section that measures a flow of a liquid passing through a fluid feeding duct is provided in a fluid feeding duct is also well known.
Here, when clogging occurs in the endoscope duct, if the liquid is continuously fed into the endoscope duct, the pressure inside the endoscope duct becomes equal to or exceeds a withstanding pressure, resulting in breakage of the endoscope duct.
Therefore, International Publication No. WO2004-049925 discloses a configuration in which an atmospheric exposure duct is connected to the downstream side of a fluid feeding duct and a relief valve that opens under a pressure that is equal to or exceeds a set pressure set to be lower than a withstanding pressure of an endoscope duct is provided in the atmospheric exposure duct. As a result of the relief valve being opened, a liquid and a gas are let out from the fluid feeding duct via the atmospheric exposure duct, whereby the pressure inside the endoscope duct is made to be lower than the withstanding pressure.
Therefore, when detection of clogging of an endoscope duct is performed using a flow measurement section, normally, clogging of the endoscope duct is detected as a result of a measurement value from the flow measurement section decreasing or becoming zero.